1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure concerns in general, the production of a polyaniline zirconia nanocomposite, and its use for the treatment of wastewater.
2. Description of Related Art
Many processes and systems for wastewater treatment are known in the prior art. Preliminary wastewater treatment usually involves gravity sedimentation of screened wastewater to remove settled solids. Half of the solids suspended in wastewater are removed through primary treatment. Secondary wastewater treatment is usually accomplished through a biological process, removing biodegradable material. Tertiary or advanced treatment is used when extremely high-quality effluent is required, including direct discharge to a drinking water source. Typical tertiary treatment involves use of chlorine for the reduction of pathological microorganisms (e.g., E. coli), which inevitably results in the use of additional chemicals (e.g., sodium thiosulfate) to remove chlorine post-treatment. Reclaiming the additional chemicals and/or brine content of the wastewater before discharge usually involves more expensive process, such as reverse osmosis and distillation, and ion exchange methods.
Accordingly, there exists in the related art a need for an economically efficient way to reduce the level of pathological microorganisms as well as the brine content in the wastewater.